How are data used?

Data are primarily used for long-term monitoring of birds nesting in the United States. Data can also be used to document the effects of climate change or other factors on breeding birds (e.g., changes in nesting dates, nesting success, or distribution).

Data are also used to study factors that influence variation in things like clutch size. A clutch of eggs is the total number of eggs laid in one nesting attempt. Clutch sizes vary within and between species. For example, an American Robin may lay between 4 or 5 eggs in an average clutch, while a Wood Duck may lay 7 to 14 eggs per clutch. Nest records gathered since the end of the 1950’s through regional nest record schemes are already used by scientists from universities and government agencies, amateur naturalists, nature writers, etc.